Passages

Alanis Morissette, 36, and her husband, Mario "Souleye" Treadway, 30, got the best Christmas gift ever when their first child-a boy they named Ever-was born on Dec. 25. The multiple-Grammy winner, who was previously engaged to fellow Canadian Ryan Reynolds, married her rapper spouse last May.

• Musician Elton John, 63, and his partner, David Furnish, 48, also had a memorable Christmas thanks to the birth of their first child, Zachary Jackson Levon, who was born via a surrogate in California on Dec. 25. The superstar said he and Furnish don't want their son to be raised by servants, and they plan to be "active parents."

• Actor Jason Schwartzman, 30, and his wife, Brady Cunningham, 33, became parents with the birth of their daughter Marlowe on Dec. 4 in Los Angeles. The Bored to Death star married the designer in 2009.

• Peter Phillips, 33, the son of Princess Anne, and his wife, Autumn, 32, welcomed their first child, a baby girl they named Savannah, on Dec. 29 in Gloucestershire, England. The newborn, who is 12th in line to the throne, is the first great-grandchild for Queen Elizabeth, 84.

LEGAL MATTERS

Nicole Richie (inset) got a belated wedding gift on Dec. 29 when her probation for a 2006 drunk-driving case was shortened by two months. A Los Angeles judge ruled that because the former reality-TV star had fulfilled the court's requirements, including an alcohol-education program, her probation period would terminate at the end of December instead of February as originally stipulated. Now a fashion designer, Richie, 29, married the father of her two children, rocker Joel Madden, 31, on Dec. 11.

SPLITS

The divorce of Phantom of the Opera star Emmy Rossum, 24, and music producer Justin Siegel, 29, was finalized on Dec. 28 in Los Angeles. The couple wed in secret in Feb. 2008 and separated in July 2009.

• Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, 42, started off the New Year by revealing that he and his wife, Maria Bierk, 47, are getting a divorce. The couple, who have been married for 18 years and have three children, separated last April. Bach was arrested last fall after a bar brawl in Ontario.

DEATHS

Anne Francis, 80, who appeared in more than 30 movies including the sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet, died of pancreatic cancer on Jan. 2 in Santa Barbara, Calif. The former child star won a Golden Globe award in 1966 for starring in Honey West on TV.

TRAGIC MODEL DIES

It was revealed on Dec. 29 that Isabelle Caro, 28, who raised awareness about anorexia through a shocking Italian ad campaign, died on Nov. 17 in France. News reports said the French model-actress, who appeared on The Price of Beauty with Jessica Simpson last year, died in Paris after being hospitalized for pneumonia. Caro, who had battled anorexia since she was 13, said she posed for the 2007 campaign photos-which showed her naked and skeletal-"to warn girls about the dangers of diets and of fashion commandments."